Contact Your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative to Urge Congressional Action on New HIPAA Medical Privacy Regulations

October 16, 2002

Support Passage of

On August 14, 2002, final revisions to the federal medical privacy regulations (the HIPAA Privacy Rule) were released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These regulations have been forthcoming since the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which required HHS to promulgate standards for the use and disclosure of health information if Congress did not provide legislative direction within a certain time frame.

Congress has the opportunity to disapprove of these regulations through the Congressional Review Act of 1996. Congress has 60 legislative days following the announcement of major regulatory amendments to review and disapprove of the changes made. Once a formal resolution of disapproval is introduced by Congress, it must be passed and become law for the regulation to be declared null and void.

H.R. 5646, the Stop Taking Our Health Privacy Act (STOHP Act), declares the changes made to the HIPAA Privacy Rule on August 14, 2002 "shall have no force or effect."  Representatives Edward Markey (D-MA), John Dingell (D-MI), and Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced the STOHP Act on October 16, 2002

Let your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives know of your concern about the new HIPAA Privacy Rule promulgated by the Bush Administration.  Urge your Representative not only to cosponsor the legislation, but also to push for passage of H.R. 5646 before the end of the 107^th Congress since these regulations do not adequately safeguard the medical privacy of all Americans.

Action Needed

Call, FAX, or email your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives to take action against the new HIPAA Privacy Rule Regulation through the Congressional Review Act before they adjourn the 107^th Congress later this fall.

All Senators and Representatives may be reached through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard, 202-2243121, or via NASW's Congress Web, http://63.66.87.48/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=NASW.

If you are not sure who your Representative is, the Capitol Switchboard can determine which one by zip code. Once you've been connected to an office, be sure to ask to speak with the "Health Care Legislative Assistant"

Senate Script

House Script

Take Action Now!  http://63.66.87.48/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=NASW

Background

Through the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Congress was authorized to establish uniform privacy standards for personal health information. Under this law, Congress was required to pass comprehensive health privacy legislation by August 21, 1999. Congress failed to accomplish this task and thus, responsibility for issuing privacy regulations was transferred to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) as mandated by HIPAA. In accordance, HHS issued proposed regulations on October 29, 1999, and allowed for an extended comment period. More than 52,000 comments were received in response to these regulations, including extensive comments submitted by the National Association of Social Workers and individual social workers. The final privacy regulations were issued by HHS just before the completion of President Clinton’s term; however, on February 26, 2001, the Bush Administration reopened the comment period for an additional 30 days. On April 12, 2001, President Bush announced that the privacy regulations, without changes, would take effect on April 14, 2001. 

Through public comments, testimony at public hearings, meetings at the request of industry and other stakeholders, as well as other communications, HHS became aware of many concerns about the potential unintended effects certain provisions would have on health care quality and access. As a result, HHS proposed further modifications to the Privacy Rule on March 27, 2002.  NASW submitted comments in this instance as well as solicited social workers to do the same. HHS published final modifications to the privacy rule on August 14^th, 2002.

The changes were significant because the previous version of the regulations requiring patients to either give or withhold consent for the routine sharing of general health care information for purposes of "treatment, payment and health care operations."; the new regulations abolish that control.

These changes deny a patient the previously held right to determine when, with whom, and for what purposes his or her health information may be shared.

NASW and other health privacy advocates, especially in the area of mental/behavioral health, believe the loss of this right to determine use will have a chilling effect upon patients' willingness to seek treatment. This will be especially true for those patients in need of mental health and substance abuse treatment services, of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, in which patient confidence in the privacy of the contents of their conversations with therapists is a pre-requisite for successful treatment. Following the reasoning of the landmark 1996 Supreme Court ruling in Jaffee-Redmond, the very Preamble to the HIPAA Regulations acknowledges that patient confidence in the privacy of the contents of their conversations with their therapists is an essential cornerstone to access and effectiveness of psychotherapy.

For more information, please visit the HIPAA Section on NASW's webpage,  http://www.socialworkers.org/practice/hipaa/default.asp or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, http://cms.hhs.gov/hipaa/.

 

---

Sample letter:

Dear Senator/Representative ___________:

As a constituent, professional social worker, and one of the 145,000 members of the National Association of Social Workers, I strongly object to the changes made to Privacy Rule, part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) regulations.

I respectfully request your support for the swift passage of the Stop Taking Our Health Privacy Act of 2002.

My concern stems from the removal from the Privacy Rule the requirement that health care providers obtain written consent before disclosing information. Eliminating a patient's right to give or withhold consent for the release of private health information is a major step backward in protecting privacy.  The change to federally mandated, a priori blanket regulatory approval to disclose private and personal health information shared, will discourage patients from seeking needed health care treatment -- especially in the area of mental health.  The health of our nation as a whole is certain to be adversely affected.

I am also extremely disturbed about the changes to the marketing provisions of the Privacy Rule. The modifications make it easier for health entities, like chain drug stores, to engage in activities using personal health information that a consumer would consider marketing and objectionable without ever having to get permission to use said information.

Importantly, Americans enjoy a fundamental right to privacy through our Constitution; these changes significantly erode that right.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

 

Sincerely yours,